I had a ball at Readercon, even though I crashed (very) early Saturday night, probably because I gave blood earlier in the day so missed Howard Waldrop's reading and all the parties that night. But I was up bright and early for breakfast with the Locus folk, Amelia and Liza, the Shirley Jackson Awards at which I was very pleased to accept the Award for Poe, as Best edited anthology.Here's the entire slate of winners and nominees:

The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award, and previously the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction (including fantasy and horror) and science fiction fandom. The award is similar to the Hugo Award but on a national rather than international scale

Eligibility to nominate

Nominations will be accepted from natural persons active in fandom, or from full or supporting members of the national convention of the year of the award. If you may not be known to the Ditmar subcommittee, please provide a brief explanation of why you are eligible (eg "Full member of Dudcon III"), or the name of someone known to the subcommittee who can vouch for your eligibility to nominate.

The 2010 awards cover the year 2009. I have published the following new stories by Australians in 2009:Sincerely, Petrified by Anna Tambour (Lovecraft Unbound)noveletteThe Tell by Kaaron Warren (Poe)short story

If anyone eligible to nominate would like to read either of these stories, please let me know and I'll email you copies.

Each year, the Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in the field of horror writing, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work Dracula. Since 1987, the approximately 500 members of the HWA have recommended, nominated and voted on the greatest works of horror and dark fantasy of the previous calendar year, making the Stokers the most prestigious award in the field of horror literature.

Currently the awards are presented in eight categories: Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Fiction Collection, Anthology, Non-fiction, and Poetry Collection. The organization's Active members will select the winners from this ballot; voting will close on March 3rd, and the awards will be presented this year at a gala banquet on Saturday evening, March 27, at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, UK.

Martyrs and Monsters by Robert Dunbar (DarkHart Press)Got to Kill Them All and Other Stories by Dennis Etchison (Cemetery Dance)A Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O'Neill (Apex Book Company)In the Closet, Under the Bed by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)

LONG ISLAND, NY, February 9, 2010 — A master of otherworldly suspense and a literary fiction darling have taken top honors in the 3rd Annual Black Quill Awards, as winners were announced today by DARK SCRIBE MAGAZINE, the virtual magazine “dedicated to the books that keep readers up at night.”

Chicago-based author Gillian Flynn snagged the coveted Editor’s Choice award for DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR for her sophomore effort, DARK PLACES, while veteran dark scribe Dan Simmons took Readers’ Choice honors in the same category for DROOD, his historical reimagining of the last years of Charles Dickens’ life. Simmons was nominated in the same category in 2007 for THE TERROR.

The Black Quill Awards were handed out in (8) categories honoring works of dark genre literature – horror, suspense, and thrillers – from both mainstream and small press publishers. While six of the awards recognized literary efforts, two of the awards recognized important aspects of book publishing and promotion: cover design and artwork and book trailer production — a growing marketing aspect of dark genre publishing. Peter Mahaichuk and César Puch dominated the BEST COVER ART AND DESIGN category for their work on Michael Louis Calvillo’s AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT for Bad Moon Books, while Calvillo himself took Readers’ Choice for BEST SMALL PRESS CHILL. Filmmaker JT Petty won Editors’ Choice for BEST DARK GENRE BOOK TRAILER for his work on the book trailer for real-life wife Sarah Langan’s AUDREY’S DOOR, while up-and-coming trailer producer John Palisano took Readers’ Choice in that same category for Gary Braunbeck’s FAR DARK FIELDS.

First-time nominees fared well in this year’s Black Quills, with Paul G. Bens Jr. taking top honors in the BEST SMALL PRESS CHILL category (Editor’s Choice) and Stoker Award-winner Lisa Morton scoring an Editors’ Choice nod for her editing work on MIDNIGHT WALK in the BEST DARK GENRE ANTHOLOGY category. Jameson Currier snagged an Editors’ Choice award for BEST DARK GENRE FICTION COLLECTION for THE HAUNTED HEART AND OTHER TALES, while David Nickle picked up the Readers’ Choice award in that same category for MONSTROUS AFFECTIONS. Editor Michael Knost took Editors’ Choice honors in the BEST DARK GENRE BOOK OF NON-FICTION category for the how-to compilation WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR, while frequent Stephen King chronicler Bev Vincent earned Readers’ Choice honors in the same category for his THE ILLUSTRATED STEPHEN KING COMPANION. Elsewhere, Sarah Totton and Harry Shannon earned Editors’ Choice and Readers’ Choice nods, respectively, in the BEST DARK SCRIBBLE category. Totton’s short story “Flatrock Sunners” appeared in the UK print magazine BLACK STATIC, while Shannon’s “The Night Nurse” ran on the webzine Horror Drive-In.

Prolific genre editor Ellen Datlow – a double nominee this year – added a Black Quill Award to her lengthy list of honors for her editing work on POE: 19 NEW TALES INSPIRED BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. This was Datlow’s third nomination, following last year’s nomination for INFERNO: NEW TALES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL and a second nomination this year for her work on the LOVECRAFT UNBOUND collection.

Nominations for the Black Quills are editorial-based, with both the editors and active contributing writers submitting nominations in each of the (8) categories. Once nominations are announced, readers of DSM cast their votes for their picks in each category. For this year’s outing, more than 3,300 votes were cast by the magazine’s readers. In a unique spin intended to celebrate both critical and popular success, two winners are traditionally announced in each category – Reader’s Choice and Editor’s Choice. Winners receive recognition in DSM, inclusion in press release materials announcing nominations and winners, a virtual icon to be used on their own website, and a handsome award certificate.

A complete list of all the nominees and winners follows:

DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR: (Novel-length work of horror, suspense, or thriller from mainstream publisher; awarded to the author)

Also, I'll be hosting and Brian Evenson, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Michael Cisco, and Richard Bowes will be reading from Lovecraft Unbound at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn, Friday, January 15th. Books will be sold and there will be a tour afterward of this historic building....More details later.

I was going to be going to Maine Thursday for a long weekend, but instead because my dad fractured his hip Monday night and is having surgery tomorrow (Wed) morning, I'm flying down to Florida tomorrow for at least a week. Don't know how things will go as he's 93. I'll be online as time and interconnectivity allows.

My sister and brother in law picked me up in the morning and we drove down to the Visionary Arts Museum, which is three times the size it was when I was last there (we only had time to visit the original building and rush through that). Then they dropped me off at the Paper Moon Diner (they continued to drive to Florida) where I met up with John Langan and his son Nick, and Greg Frost and his friend Warren. The decor is fantastic and I'll be posting the photos of the diner shortly. The food was ok.

Everything ran late so of course we were a little late finding the Enoch Pratt Library where the reading was taking place (and finding parking). But got there and a nice audience of about 20 people were awaiting. Judy Cooper the head of programming and events and Nancy O. Greene, who made the initial contact with the library and graciously supplied refreshments were both there and greeted us.

It was a glorious day for a funeral/celebration and not at all gloomy as one might expect for the great Poe. There were two services, the first taking 2 1/2 hours, the second slightly shorter. Fifteen people people spoke including Poe's former fiance Sarah Helen Whitman, Poe's friend George Lippard, the man who ruined Poe's reputation for many years, The Rev. Rufus Griswold (who was hissed from the podium after his inappropriate and false remarks about the dead man), Charles Baudelaire, Walt Whitman, H. P. Lovecraft (who read from the Necronomicon and then translated what he read for for mourners), and a few living persons, such as myself and artist Gris Grimly. John Astin graciously presided over the proceedings.

There was wonderful music: a violin soloist, a solo singer, a men's chorale. There was drama: George Lippard tossed a cup of water at the nasty Griswold, the narrator of the Tell-Tale Heart appeared mysteriously to have his say.( Read more... )

I'll be offline from tomorrow morning through Monday morning while I attend the funeral of Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore and give a eulogy to him for the two services Sunday. So don't be shocked if I don't respond to email or show up anywhere online :-).

Ellen Datlow is currently tied (with frequent co-editor Terri Windling) as the winner of the most World Fantasy Awards in the organization's history. She has also won several Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, the Shirley Jackson Award, and multiple Locus and Hugo Awards for Best Editor. Ellen was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre." She has edited numerous anthologies, including Inferno, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series (first with Terri Windling, then with Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant), The Dark, Salon Fantastique (with Terri Windling), The Coyote Road (with Terri Windling), The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Lovecraft Unbound, the new Best Horror of the Year anthology series, and (forthcoming) Haunted Legends (with Nick Mamatas).

Gregory Frost is the author of critically acclaimed novels, short stories and articles, all dealing in some fashion with the fantastic, the improbable, and the impossible. Mr. Frost has been a finalist for the James Tiptree Award, Nebula Award, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, World Fantasy Award, Hugo Award, and the International Horror Guild Award. He is a graduate of the writing program at the University of Iowa and of the intensive Clarion Writers Workshop, and he is one of the rotating Fiction Writing Workshop Directors at Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore, PA. Gregory Frost's latest book is Lord Tophet, volume two of the SHADOWBRIDGE duology from Del Rey (Random House, July 2008). Book one, Shadowbridge also debuted in 2008. Other works include his short story collection, Attack Of The Jazz Giants & Other Stories; the novel Fitcher's Brides (Tor Books); "Ill-Met in Ilium" in The Secret History of Vampires; and “The Comeuppance of Creegus Maxin” in The Beastly Bride.

John Langan is a writer of weird fiction living in upstate New York with his wife and son. His stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Ellen Datlow's Poe, and John Joseph Adams's The Living Dead and By Blood We Live. His first collection of fiction, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, was published by Prime Books in 2008 to positive reviews and a Bram Stoker nomination; his first novel, House of Windows, is forthcoming from Night Shade Books in 2009. His reviews and essays have appeared in Dead Reckonings, Extrapolation, Science Fiction Studies, and The Internet Review of Science Fiction, The Lovecraft Annual, Fantasy Commentator, and Lovecraft Studies.

The Montauk Club is pleased to announce an evening celebrating Edgar Allan Poe with readings from Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Solaris Books. The reading will take place at 8 PM, September 25, 2009, in the historic 120 year-old Ballroom at the Montauk Club, 25 Eighth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn (adjacent to Grand Army Plaza).

Anthology editor Ellen Datlow will introduce each of the three contributors from Poe's all-star lineup who will be reading from their stories: Gregory Frost, John Langan and Delia Sherman.

Ellen Datlow has been editing short science fiction, fantasy, and horror for over twenty-five years. She is editor or co-editor of a large number of award-winning original anthologies; most recently The Best Horror of the Year Volume One, The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Inferno, The Coyote Road, and Troll's Eye View (with Terri Windling).

She has won multiple awards for her editing, including the World Fantasy, Locus, Hugo, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and Stoker Awards. She was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award for "outstanding contribution to the genre."

Gregory Frost is a writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction who has been publishing steadily for more than two decades. His latest work is the fantasy duology, Shadowbridge, published by Del Rey Books. His earlier novels include Fitcher's Brides, a World Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award finalist for Best Novel; Tain, Lyrec, and Nebula-nominated science fiction novel The Pure Cold Light. His short story collection, Attack of the Jazz Giants & Other Stories was called "one of the best fantasy collections of the year" by Publishers Weekly.

John Langan is the author of several stories, including "Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers," "Mr. Gaunt," and "On Skua Island," all of which were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. A collection of his short work, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters was published recently, and his first novel, House of Windows, is forthcoming from Night Shade Books next April. John has twice been nominated for the International Horror Guild Award. He teaches literature and creative writing at SUNY New Paltz.

Delia Sherman's short fiction has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and numerous anthologies, the most recent of which The Coyote Road and Troll's Eye View. She has written three adult novels, one of them, The Fall of the Kings, with Ellen Kushner. Her latest novels: Changeling and its sequel, Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen, the latter published this past June, are New York fantasies for younger readers.

The ticket price is free to club members and $5 for non-members; drink tickets for cocktails, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks can be purchased. There will be a social hour for attendees and participating authors after the reading. Seating is limited: an RSVP would be appreciated but is not necessary to lisabeth.greene@gmail.com.

The Montauk Club is a historic landmark in Park Slope, Brooklyn, designed by architect Francis H. Kimball in a unique combination of Venetian Gothic and Native American motifs. Its splendid interiors are host to a diverse number of cultural programs, including readings, art shows, lectures and symposiums. We are glad to host this distinguished evening of some of America's finest fantasy authors in homage to the great founder of the American Gothic tradition, Edgar Allan Poe. We hope you can join us!

Many years ago, The Chronic Rift was on video and I appeared on at least two episodes. Now they regularly podcast and I've been interviewed a few days ago by John Drew, mostly about Poe. Please excuse the ahem, awkwardness and especially the fact that I didn't know the url of my own lj account dammit!